Projects piling up for prolific peformer

British Independent Film Awards 2012 - Variety Award: Jude Law

After being part of Steven Soderbergh’s ensemble in “Contagion,” Jude Law plays a more central role in the director’s upcoming “Side Effects.”

“It’s about the overuse of prescription pills in New York,” says Law, who plays a doctor who encourages a young woman (Rooney Mara) onto antidepressants, with devastating effects.

Law just finished “Dom Hemingway” in London, directed by Richard Shepard, about a petty crook just released from prison.

“I’ve never read a part like it,” Law says. “He’s in every moment of the film, he doesn’t stop talking, he has an enormous intake of alcohol, drugs and women, he goes at 100 miles an hour. The film is about him realizing he has to get back in touch with his daughter. And it has the fantastic Jeremy Thomas as a producer, which is great. I can’t believe I have never worked with him before.”

Next come small roles in Werner Herzog’s “Queen of the Desert” and Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Then he’s free between March and September, before starting work on a stage production of “Henry V” for the new company set up by Michael Grandage, former artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse.

Law previously appeared in Grandage’s “Hamlet” in 2009 and “Anna Christie” in 2011, both at the Donmar.

“I did a lot of theater as a young actor, but there was a long period when the right thing didn’t come up, and I really missed it,” Law says. “So I made a conscious decision to go back once every couple of years.”

Law is also developing several projects as a producer and director through his company Riff Raff, which he founded after the demise of Natural Nylon, a partnership with fellow actors Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Sean Pertwee and his ex-wife Sadie Frost.

“There were too many cooks in that kitchen, and our careers were heading in different directions,” he says.

Law superstitiously refuses to divulge details of Riff Raff’s slate, but says he loves the role of producer in “bringing people together, bringing dreams to life, creating stories you’re passionate about, being involved in the eye of the storm.”